The Twelve Deeds Of Shakyamuni Buddha
The twelve deeds are the twelve significant activities of Lord Buddha:
- Descending from Tushita Heaven
- Entering into his mother's womb
- Birth in the garden of Lumbini
- Training in the sciences
- Victory in sports competition
- Enjoying the palace and marriage
- Renouncing the life of a prince
- Practicing austerity for six years, then relinquishing that
- Obtaining victory over the Maras
- Enlightenment under the bodhi tree
- Turning the wheel of dharma
- And passing into Parinirvana
The great deeds of the Buddha are understood differently in various Buddhist traditions. Lord Buddha entered the universe as a tenth-bhumi bodhisattva, according to the Mahayana tradition. He reached the pinnacle of perfection, the eleventh bhumi, and attained full Buddhahood.
The Mahayana Tradition's interpretation of The Twelve Acts of the Buddha.
Before he was born on the mortal plain, the Buddha was thought to have been preaching to the gods in the celestial region of Tushita. The lucky beings learn priceless dharma teachings and practices in this realm.
When he attained Buddhahood, his aspirations for spiritual development and the accumulation of spiritual merit from his many prior lives reached their fullest realization.
He was motivated to take his final step toward Buddhahood to benefit all sentient beings as time went on by the Buddhas of the ten directions. It might be heard as music in the skies. This is the original sound of Buddha Dipamkara's prediction that Shakyamuni Buddha will emerge.
Shakyamuni Buddha stated in The Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in Eight Thousand Lines:
"So it is, O Gods! So do I, when I met a Tathagata, Dipamkara, in the bazaar of Dipavati, the royal city, possess the fullness of this perfection of wisdom, so Dipamkara, a Tathagata, predicted one day I am to be fully enlightened and said to me, "You, young Brahmin, in this future period, after incalculable eons, become a Tathagata, Shakyamuni by name, endowed with knowledge and virtue, Well-Gone, a world-knower, unsurpassed, tamer of beings to be tamed, teacher of gods and people, a Buddha, a Blessed Lord!"
In Tushita Heaven, Lord Buddha was the absolute spiritual ruler. He then transferred Maitreya Bodhisattva's spiritual responsibilities to him and declared him to be the coming Buddha.
Then, from the celestial world, the Buddha descended to Earth. This occurred with regard to the five distinct observations of place, caste, father, mother, and time. He descended to the Earthly realm and entered the mother's womb when all five aspects were suitable. Buddha was growing inside the mother's womb while she dreamed of a white baby elephant with six tusks. For his mother, the pregnancy was a positive experience. She was incredibly happy in her head. In order to achieve the tenth-bhumi level of a bodhisattva, Buddha spent 10 months in the womb.
Finally, his mother left the palace and made her way to her parent's house to give birth. She paused en route in a Lumbini forest and, unprompted, put her hand on a tree branch. The Buddha appeared out from under her right arm at the appropriate moment, miraculously causing her no pain.
Buddha was given special baths by gods and celestial creatures as soon as he was born. In all four directions, he took seven steps. A real lotus flower appeared with each stride. Buddha was born at the same time when a unique star called Gyal was rising (Skt. Tisya, Lat. Cancri). Buddha declared,
"I am the supreme being in the world," while pointing up toward the sky.
All kinds of flowers were in full bloom, the Earth was gently trembling, and the sky was a golden hue.
The Blue Annals, a narrative written in Tibetan, claim that the Chinese Emperor and his entourage were looking directly at the West at the same time. They observed a strange, golden hue in the sky. The shocked Emperor discussed the occurrence with a wise man. And he said that there, in the West, a perfect being was born. The golden hue of the sky was the aura of that ideal being. This incident took place in the Year of the Male Wood-Tiger, according to the same text.
A knowledgeable ascetic whom Buddha's father talked with advised him: "This youngster is extraordinary. The youngster will turn into a Buddha if he rejects the kingdom. He will control the globe if he stays in the royal kingdom. "
The King had no idea what it meant to be a Buddha. However, he wished for his son to govern the world. His mother passed away seven days after he was born. Thirty-two surrogate moms fed and took care of him. The Buddha had several teachers who helped him learn a wide range of topics, including the arts, literature, and science. He outperformed them all. One day, his father talked to his counselors about getting married. They advised him to wed a member of the Shakya family. Buddha, however, announced that he would wed a very special woman. She was the only one who lacked the eight traits and the five flaws.
However, the daughter's father declined to give her hand when Buddha's father requested it. Since your son is a royal prince and lacks this talent, he remarked, "My daughter shall marry someone with skills in archery, and the marriage will not work." The King, who was highly miffed by this denial, informed Buddha of the incident. Buddha informed him that there was no issue and that he would compete against everyone in all sports. His father was so pleased to hear him talk with such assurance that he set up a sizable tournament.
Buddha participated in every sport and triumphed in all events. The final competition was archery. Each expert archer set their aim at a specific distance. The father of the daughter set his target farther than everybody else. Buddha took the next round and set his aim much further away. It was precisely in front of nine sandalwood trees in a row. The arrow he fired struck the target, piercing all nine sandalwood trees, and the arrow vanished into the ground. A little pond was formed as springwater emerged from that area of the ground.
Then, as a cunning strategy to dissuade those heretics who would accuse him of being a eunuch, Buddha married her. Later, his wife gave birth to a son. Buddha resided at the palace and delighted in marriage and princely life. He was prompted to entirely quit his royal existence by a celestial melody in the shape of music. He realized it was the outcome of his earlier decision to seek enlightenment. As a result, the Buddha left the palace and witnessed the pain associated with childbirth, aging, illness, and death. When he finally came across a tranquil monk in meditation, he declared, "That's what I want to be." He vowed fervently to give up his current existence and to look for an end to all misery in the world.
Now, the King and father of Buddha feared that he might flee the land. So he ordered the guards to supervise him for the time being. The Buddha went to his father on the last day and respectfully requested his permission to leave the realm. His father naturally turned down his request. But once Buddha blessed the guards that evening, they all slept peacefully on the floor. He escaped from the palace on a horse with the aid of the four guardian kings, followed by one of his servants. He shaved his own hair in front of Nam Da Stupa. He became an ordained person by donning monk's robes instead of his royal garb.
At first, he adhered to two famous ascetics and underwent six years of restraint. He had attained the highest level of meditative steadiness attainable in samsara by the end of the year. However, he became aware that he was still trapped in samsara. He was aware that he had to go beyond. At that very moment, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas urged him to follow the path of total enlightenment. He thus emerged from his six years of living simply. He also revealed to his austere teachers that samsara still held them captive.
His five disciples were disappointed in him when he gave up his austerity habit. The Buddha headed for Bodhgaya. Two young women named Nanda and Nandabala gave him milk and honey on the journey. The offerings were made from the milk of a thousand cows. Buddha drank the milk, and his skin turned golden.
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At Bodhgaya, Indra took the form of the grass trader Svastika. The Buddha constructed a mat for himself by taking some grass from him as e sat over it. He vowed to remain seated there unmovingly until ultimate enlightenment. He started a contemplative meditation at dusk. The "annihilation of the Maras forces" phase was named thus.
His meditative power spread throughout the world. The Maras monarch appeared to him as a messenger and said,
"The town of Kapilavastu has been captured by Devadatta, and the palace has been ransacked. All the Shakyas were murdered. What are you doing here? "
Buddha answered, "I'm here in order to attain perfect enlightenment."
Mara replied, "In order to attain perfect enlightenment, you must have an enormous accumulation of merit. You, a prince who just enjoys royal life, how can you attain such an accumulation? "
Buddha said, "You know, you have merely done some ritual prayers and practices. And because of that, you've been born as a powerful Mara in the god realm. I have accumulated two types of merit for countless numbers of eons. Why wouldn't I become a perfect, enlightened being? "
Mara responded, "If that is so, then there has to be a witness to such an accomplishment. Where is your witness? "
And the Buddha touched his hand to the ground: "The earth is my witness."
The Goddess Earth, who was golden in hue, rose halfway out of the Earth as soon as he stated that. She is holding a collection of tiny particles. Then she said to Mara, "I could count each and every one of the particles in my hand, but I could not count how many times this great being has sacrificed his head and limbs for the benefit of others. It is certainly the time for him to become a completely enlightened being." Having said that, she vanished into the ground.
Mara returned with a large army to assault Buddha because he was furious and upset over his previous attempts. The attacks had no effect on Buddha because he was now an entirely realized entity. He possessed not the slightest hint of hatred. All of the weapons were turned into flowers by his immense compassion and power. The music was the source of all the horrifying sounds.
Once more, Mara tried to entice Buddha by assuming the appearance of seven stunningly beautiful women. Mara was unable to arouse even the tiniest desire in the enlightened deity since he had conquered all desire. All seven of those stunning women changed into seven old hags and confessed to him. Buddha forgave everyone.
It was time for him to begin his meditation at midnight, and by daylight, Buddha had attained a state of perfection and enlightenment. The Earth began to tremble again at that time, and a lunar eclipse took place. It was the fourth lunar month of Vaisakha, on the day of the full moon.
Buddha started preaching right away after attaining enlightenment, but no one could understand him and his teachings. No one could hear his instruction because the moment was not appropriate. He made the decision to remain silent for the next seven weeks. Brahma and Indra specifically requested that Buddha lecture after seven weeks. Buddha received a thousand-spoked golden wheel from Brahma. Indra presented a unique white conch shell with a clockwise spiral.
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The Buddha then realized that it was time to spin the dharma wheel. Buddha's teachings could be heard throughout the cosmos at that very instant.
The Buddha made his way to Varanasi. He recognized that his five followers were his first disciples as a result of the convergence of virtuous karma and aspiration prayers. But previously, Buddha had let them down. So they chose to disregard him. But as Buddha drew near, they were compelled to go and receive him. After receiving him, they couldn't help but bow down to him and request instruction.
Eighty thousand gods joined the five students and Buddha to listen to his teaching. The Four Noble Truths were the topic of his first sermon. All five of the disciples become Arhats after hearing the instruction three times. This represented the dharma wheel's initial rotation.
The doctrine of emptiness was the subject of the second rotation of the dharma wheel. It happened on Rajgir's Vulture Peak Mountain. There were 5,000 Arhats, 500 fully ordained nuns, and lay practitioners among the disciples. Additionally, there were celestial creatures like gods and Gandharvas. The tantric beliefs were the main focus of the third wheel turn. These sermons also contained a number of sutra teachings. Great Bodhisattvas, nuns, monks, gods, nagas, and other fortunate beings were present.
Buddha became enlightened when he was 35 years old. In total, he spent 45 years teaching. He realized that his time on Earth was running out at the age of 80. He stated, "If there are those who wish to truly practice, I will live for eons and eons." That was stated three times by Buddha. But Ananda was unable to hear due to the effect of Maras. As a result, he never asked Buddha to live a long life. Buddha was aware that he could do nothing more. Then Mara herself manifested and asked him to leave. Buddha stated that he would depart in three months.
During this time, he tamed and benefitted sentient beings. Then he went to Kushinagar. There he told his fellow disciples to look at this perfect form of a Tathagata. "It is as rare as the Udumbara flower."
All composite phenomena are susceptible to deterioration; he informed the disciples that even the flawless body of the Buddha enters Nirvana. He sat down in the lion's resting position. The entire universe began to tremble once more at that very instant.
Offerings were made by the gods and humans for seven days. His fellow followers prepared his body for cremation. It caught fire on its own, and countless spherical artifacts emerged. Eight sections of those relics were distributed to eight different regions to be placed in stupas. People who lived during the Buddha's lifetime were extremely fortunate. Usually, they were freed just by hearing Buddha's teachings. There is no historical human that he may be compared to. Enlightened humans are the only ones who can truly comprehend the extraordinary nature of Buddha. According to the Vajrayana tradition, Buddha entered the world as a fully enlightened entity. The tantric term is difficult for regular people to comprehend.
